Joseph Mazzello: Then and Now

Remember the young boy in Jurassic Park?  He’s not so young anymore, as the recent 20th anniversary 3-D reissue of Steven Spielberg’s iconic dinosaur saga can attest, and he’s about to direct his first feature film.  Joseph Mazzello (30), who as a child actor co-starred in Jurassic Park, as well as other films including The River Wild (with Meryl Streep), Shadowlands (with Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger) and Presumed Innocent (with Harrison Ford) is tapped to helm Undrafted, based on his own script.

Undrafted is an ensemble baseball film about a group of young athletes and their experiences trying to parlay collegiate baseball success into a spot on a Major League Baseball team, only to find themselves rejected and well, undrafted.  Mazzello based on the story off the experience of his brother.  “I watched for 15 years as my brother worked tirelessly to make his dream come true only to see it never happen and it was heartbreaking.  During that time I saw the love he and his teammates had for each other and for the game that is the heart of our story,”  Mazzello commented.  The film is set to star Aaron Tveit (Les Misérables), Chace Crawford (What to Expect When You’re Expecting), James Belushi (New Years Eve) as well as former child actors Tyler Hoechlin (Road to Perdition) and Michael Fishman (TV’s Roseanne.)

After growing up in the limelight, Mazzello retreated from Hollywood and earned his degree from USC’s Film Production Program before re-surfacing as in actor in small roles in films like The Social Network and G.I. Joe: Retaliation as well as on the small screen with roles in the HBO mini-series The Pacific and the FX drama Justified.